Mail sports editor Snowdon leaves for Scottish Times

Les Snowdon, the sports editor of the Daily Mail for the last five years, is leaving the paper to become the Scottish editor of The Times.

On the move: Les Snowdon, right, with Mail head of sport Lee Clayton, receives the SJA's Sport Newspaper of the Year award from David Walker (centre) last March — On the move: Les Snowdon, right, with *Mail* head of sport Lee Clayton, receives the SJA’s Sport Newspaper of the Year award from David Walker (centre) last March

Snowdon is expected to take up his new role early in January.

He has been appointed by News UK following the death in October of Angus Macleod.

The move represents something of a “homecoming” for Snowdon, who has a strong background in Scottish newspapers and beyond the sports desk.

He was editor of Scotland on Sunday for two and half years, until 2009, and previously, he was editor of The Sunday Times Scotland, where, between and 1999 and 2000, he was its sports editor.

Snowdon had also worked for a spell as deputy sports editor at The Sunday Times.

Snowdon leaves the Mail sports department on a bit of a high, the title having taken the SJA’s Sports Newspaper of the Year title at the 2013 British Sports Journalism Awards, as well as the Laureus Sports Website trophy and seeing the paper’s chief sports writer, Martin Samuel, named Sports Writer of the Year.

The departure coincides with the exit of another senior sports desk executive, Mark Alford, who – as reported yesterday by sportsjournalists.co.uk – is heading to Sky Sports’ digital operations.